Nintendo Profits Dive 52%

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Warped

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although this was expected I didn't think Nintendo could last this long making 5/10 games for that long.

Nintendo Profits Dive 52 Percent in First Fiscal Half
Compelling proof that the Wii's meteoric rise is officially over.
By Kris Pigna, 11/01/2009

WiiNintendo has announced they've posted 69.49 billion yen ($772 million) in profits during the first half of the fiscal year spanning April to September, a whopping 52 percent drop from the 144.83 billion yen ($1.59 billion) profit they posted during the same period last year (via AP).

The earnings trail the 100 billion yen ($1.1 billion) Nintendo forecasted for the period back in May. This is forcing Nintendo to lower their full-year forecast of 300 billion yen profit to 230 billion yen, which would be down from the record 279.1 billion yen profit they raked in last year -- and would make this the first time in six years that Nintendo is predicting its profits to fall.

Six years is a hell of a run, but this is a clear indication that demand for the Wii -- once literally impossible to sate -- has cooled down considerably, with stacks of the system just as likely to be found at retailers as empty shelves were a couple of years ago.

But it's not exactly as if this is catastrophic news, as record profits obviously couldn't last forever. "It's just not realistic for them to repeat what they did last year," said KBC Securities Japan director Hiroshi Kamide. The recent Wii price cut and holiday season are also expected to boost sales, but the overall impression is clear: For Nintendo, it looks like this may just be the fabled "new normal."
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http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3176728

I don't know if I can laugh at this picture anymore
ds-it-prints-money490.jpg


I was also wondering, how many of you guys have Wiis and are you happy or sad with your purchase??
 
Happy or sad with my wii purchase? I say neither. I really don't give a rats ass about it, I haven't touched this gimmick machine since March 2009.
 
I haven't turned my Wii on since like Spring time myself. I think Epic Mickey will be sweet, and maybe the new Mario game coming out soon, but theres not much on the system I want
 
The last game I bought for my Wii was Super Smash Bros. I think... whenever the hell that came out. It's ended up being pretty much a waste of money... I absolutely hate its ****in' "controller" and can hardly stand to play the games I do have for it anymore.
 
Yeah, I haven't played any Wii games in over a year. This is kind of to be expected, it was focused on casual gaming and gimmickry, not the kinds of things that hold people's interest for long.
 
Whenever the family is over, we play the Wii for a couple of hours. It's nice to have it.
Of course, I haven't been home much since last year. But this Christmas is going to be amazing. We still have tournaments on Wii sports.
 
My Wii is now basically a Metroid Prime Trilogy player and a virtual console. Oddly enough, I reckon I'd still pay full price for it if those were the only two features it had.
 
DEATHMASTER said:
Something tells me the DSi LL won't help.
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Constant reiterations of old consoles and add-ons that support a handful of games? I don't understand why Nintendo's SEGA like approach didn't 'fail' sooner.

Of course, they aren't failing in the least. They're still making plenty of money, they're just having to choose which two relatives to give the ivory back-scratchers to this year.
 
I really hope this serves as a wake-up call to Nintendo, so that they can reconsider their entire marketing strategy.
 
Been patiently waiting many years for a DS. It's still too expensive. I don't even really want one, I just want one because I wanted one. I've already grown too old to play games anymore while waiting.

Instead of just lowering the price like a normal company, they just make a new, slightly different one and increase the price.

:rolleyes:
 
I have a Wii at my house. My parents really dig it, and it's fun to play with them sometimes (albeit kind of bizzare). In college my friend's roommate has a Wii and there's almost always a bunch of people playing Smash on it, so that's kind of cool. But would I ever pay for a Wii? Hell no. Even the DS was pretty overrated, most of it's great games were either sequels or remakes.
 
VirusType2 said:
Been patiently waiting many years for a DS. It's still too expensive. I don't even really want one, I just want one because I wanted one. I've already grown too old to play games anymore while waiting.

Instead of just lowering the price like a normal company, they just make a new, slightly different one and increase the price.

:rolleyes:
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Ebay, that s how I got it. Got a case with it too :)
This new version as well should be incentive to sell the lite for less.
 
I'm planning on getting the Wii for the next LoZ and Metroid games. I hope it's worth it...
 
The one thing I credit Nintendo right now for is the lack of hardware malfunctions. I don't know anyone in the area between friends and relatives that had a single Nintendo crash recently. Thats one thing I applaud Nintendo for, making really great long lasting products...also captain, you raise and interesting point, where is Nintendo going now. that Cammie lady certainly didn't help much
blah3.gif
 
Nintendo needs to up their hardware with the next console. They have always been lagging behind when it came to hardware but had plenty of great games for the previous consoles.
The Wii, on the other hand, heavily relies on gimmicks instead of quality games. Nobody gives a shit about Wii fit or any of the other ridiculous peripherals. Wii motion is great and all but it's useless when only half assed games such as Wii Tenis etc. have it properly implemented. It also offers the worst online experience of the current consoles. It's not very user friendly at all, even though this console is marketed towards the casual "gamer".
 
LoZ is like the only reason I could justify getting a Wii. It was the initial driving force of getting the DS for me.
 
I'm of the opinion that Ant and Dec on board is an even bigger indication of the death of the Wii.
 
i sold my wii (to buy a new camera) a couple of months ago after having it 2 years and probably playing it about 200 hours total, my kids stopped playing it too.

in the end i was only using it for the gamecube games, so i just dug out the gamecube.

the new nintendo adverts on telly are absolutely horrible as well, they make me want to actively avoid playing the wii (and the crappy DS for that matter)
 
I enjoy playing the Wii around friend's houses but I would really hate to own one. It feels like there are specific times when it would be fun then I would feel utter contempt for it sitting there like a sore thumb as I didn't know what to do with it.

I bought my girlfriend as DS a long time ago for things like brain training (casual gaming market eh?) but she's got bored of that too. I tried to save it with smash bros, crash bandicoot and mario / sonic at olympic games but no dice!

Anyway...from the past page I can see no one plays the damn Wii anymore, but Nintendo make the money out of people buying add-ons and games now (motion board / wii-motion plus etc). So is anyone buying those kind of things?
 
As a party console the Wii is clearly the current platform of choice. If you regularly have 4 or more friends round to play games, get a Wii. As a more traditional console, despite having a few of the better games released this gen, it's certainly lacking. There just aren't enough quality releases. The Wiimote/Nunchuck/motion plus combo, however, is awesome. When implemented well - too many people have confused gimmick with poor implementation - the Wiimote becomes far more than a simple pointing device and allows us to play games that simply wouldn't work, or work as well, with a mouse or pad. See Metroid Trilogy, World of Goo, Korinpa, Lost Winds, Wii Sports Resort and Mario Galaxy for the range of control options the Wiimote combo affords.

Try playing Oblivion, Dark Messiah, or any first person game that involves melee combat, after the Sword slicing reaction game in Resort. These types of game won't be fully realised untill they're introduced to precise motion control. The same goes for fps that involve platforming elements - after Metroid these games feel clunky and tired. The controls are truly innovative, we just need more games more powerful hardware do do them justice.
 
Warbie said:
The same goes for fps that involve platforming elements - after Metroid these games feel clunky and tired. The controls are truly innovative, we just need more games more powerful hardware do do them justice.
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Err, I've actually played the Metroid Prime games on the Wii, and I have to disagree.

Mirror's Edge has far more seamless platforming elements than those games, and it's an FPS to, and NOT available on the Wii.

IMO the reason that Nintendo profits are dropping is because these days they are a softcore-gamer focused company, and due to the financial crisis, the majority of people who still buy games/platforms etc, are more hardcore gamers, which generally stick to the 'cooler' platforms.

Note, I mean no disrespect to the Wii or the Nintendo, but my experience is that Nintendo is a brand far more popular with lite-gamers than the other platforms, at least these days.

Anyway, I barely slept tonight and I'm still tired as hell, so if this post makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, I apologize.:(
 
Gargantou said:
Err, I've actually played the Metroid Prime games on the Wii, and I have to disagree..
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Out of curiosity, which control metod did you use? I ask because the differences are significant - the most sensitive 'expert' mode being widely regarded as the only way to play MP on the Wii. The default method just doesn't work.

Gargantou said:
Mirror's Edge has far more seamless platforming elements than those games, and it's an FPS to, and NOT available on the Wii.
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It not being available on the Wii has more to do with technical grunt than control method. There's no doubt in my mind that Mirror's Edge with MP 'expert' controls would a better, more enjoyable experience.
 
Warbie said:
Out of curiosity, which control metod did you use? I ask because the differences are significant - the most sensitive 'expert' mode being widely regarded as the only way to play MP on the Wii. The default method just doesn't work.



It not being available on the Wii has more to do with technical grunt than control method. There's no doubt in my mind that Mirror's Edge with MP 'expert' controls would a better, more enjoyable experience.
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1. Ah no, I did not try the 'expert' mode, I played the trilogy briefly over at a friends.

2. Perhaps, but it all depends, does motion sensitive automatically make for more enjoyable? Not necessarily! What about all the obese gamers that risk straining their muscles simply at the strain of having to twist their hands etc? WON'T SOMEBODY PLEASE THINK OF THE OBESE PEOPLE!?

3. I feel the problem is modern motion sensitive equipment for gaming is still not nearly sensitive and accurate enough for overall enjoyable gaming experiences.

For example, I have gotten far more enjoyment out of playing golf on the 360 than I have out of playing golf on the Wii.

It's hard to predict where the future of gaming will end up though, could be more and more motion sensitive stuff ala the Wii, or it could simply be something that only lasts for a few more years. I still dream of a way to program dreams etc in such a way that one can use them to play actual games, imagine the realism, imagine the Japanese h-games!:LOL:

Personally I enjoy playing with a mouse/keyboard and a joypad just as much as I do with motion sensitive controllers.

P.S. I'm not fat. I'm really not. Okay? Okay.
 
Warbie said:
As a party console the Wii is clearly the current platform of choice. If you regularly have 4 or more friends round to play games, get a Wii.
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House with a Wii here, personally I'm yet to play it. The Wii may be 'clearly' the platform of choice for party game, but the PS3 has had enough to keep many a party entertained so far. No one moans 'can we play Wii now?' When we have Singstar and Little Big Planet instead, and cheapass I may be, but the idea of owning a console or even more than a couple of titles a year to cater for party gaming seems like a bit of an extravagance.
 
I suspect much comes down to the people you're playing with. When ever i'm playing games with a group of people the majority are non gamers that would have no interest at all in something Little Big Planet. Wii Sports Resort is a completely different story. Nearly all of my friends homes have a Wii now.
 
I think somehow Nintendo will manage to stay afloat for a little longer. :LOL:

Seriously though, there were some sweet games for the Wii that all gamers should be into like MadWorld, A Boy and His Blob, and Muramasa: The Demon Blade. These 3 alone have kept my Wii humming nicely recently. Much moreso that Resort even though that is still some pretty wicked fun. I am quite looking forward to Red Steel 2 as well as New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Can't wait!!
 
I still have a bunch of games I want to buy on the Wii and I'm still playing through Twilight Princess and the 150cc cup in Mario Kart as well as a couple of [strike]Virtual Console[/strike] NES/N64 Zeldas. I have no time and no money (I've been in the Temple of Time for weeks).
 
kupocake said:
I mean, there isn't even a paintballing game on DSIware.

HE CANNAE SEE MAN! HE CANNAE SEE!
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If they released a Wii game where you shoot Ant and Dec in the face with paintballs (or preferably not just with paintballs), profits would triple.
 
Roommate had a Wii last year ....

The thing barely got touched. It spent most of the time unplugged. The PS3 got the most attention followed somewhat closely by the 360.

I have two fond memories of it: the whole of Super Mario Galaxy and once playing Mario Kart till 8 in the morning after a party. Considering I lived there for two years I'd say that's not too impressive.
 
this news story is misleading and stupid. yes their profits fell but that's NORMAL as they hit a consumer saturation point. they're not losing money (unlike microsoft which only recently turned a profit after years of being in the console market), they're just making less money but that doesnt mean they're huriting in any way shape or form. the only people who should be concerned is shareholders as they're seeing a dip in their returns on the investment. for the gaming industry to use this as an indicator of exactly which console is at the top is just stupid and smacks of fanboyism
 
Oh yeah Stern? Point out where the article mislead the reader into thinking that they were hurting. It doesnt suggest that anywhere. It even specifically said that it was normal they their "record profits obviously couldn't last forever."
 
I doubt the Wii sales are slowing because people are changing their minds and not liking it. Somewhat because of a lack of popular releases this year. But I'm betting it is actually on it's way to market saturation.
 
Asus said:
But I'm betting it is actually on it's way to market saturation.
Click to expand...

It won't be long. It's ridicuous how may people have a Wii.


Don't forget Sin and Punishment 2, guys.
 
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